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AS practical skills and required practical activities
This topic preserves AS practical requirements and written-paper practical assessment.
10
Objectives
10
Flashcards
10
Questions
90 min
Study time
AqaA LevelChemistryPractical skills, mathematical requirements and assessment
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Syllabus checklist
What you need to know
10 objective pages available
AS apparatus and techniques4 objectives
- Use apparatus to measure mass, time, volume, temperature and pH.
- Use heating, titration, distillation, filtration and chromatography techniques.
- Handle solids and liquids safely, including hazardous substances.
- Measure reaction rates using appropriate methods.
AS required practical activities6 objectives
- Required practical 1: make up a volumetric solution and carry out a simple acid-base titration.
- Required practical 2: measure an enthalpy change.
- Required practical 3: investigate how rate changes with temperature.
- Required practical 4: identify required cations and anions using test-tube reactions.
- Required practical 5: distil a product from a reaction.
- Required practical 6: test for alcohol, aldehyde, alkene and carboxylic acid functional groups.
Key terms
CalibrationToleranceFiltrationHeatingHazardous substancesPersonal Protective Equipment (PPE)Rate of reactionCatalystVolumetric solutionTitrationCalorimetryExothermic reaction
Exam tips
- Read the question carefully: Ensure you understand what is being asked before answering, especially in practical scenarios.
- Practice practical techniques: Familiarize yourself with the use of apparatus and techniques such as titration and distillation through hands-on practice.
Common mistakes
- Incorrect use of measuring devices: Always use a volumetric flask for accurate volume measurements in quantitative experiments.
- Incorrect endpoint identification in titration: Use a suitable indicator that changes color at the endpoint and practice recognizing the color change.
Practice preview
- Which piece of apparatus is most suitable for measuring the volume of a liquid accurately?
- Describe how you would measure the pH of a solution using a pH meter.
- A student needs to measure 50.0 mL of hydrochloric acid (HCl) for a titration. If the student uses a pipette with a tolerance of ±0.1 mL, what is the maximum and minimum volume of HCl that could be measured?
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